BSNL-Bangalore to outsource debt recovery agents

In order to recover outstanding payments faster, the Bangalore telecom district of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to outsource agents for collecting outstanding payments.

The department has invited tenders from debt recovery agents or firms of reputed public sector banks or financial institutions.

The notice for tenders has been issued for realisation of telephone dues from defaulters of Bangalore Telecom District on commission basis.

P Ganesh, principal general manager, BSNL, Bangalore telecom district, said: "The tenders have been issued for realisation of outstanding dues from defaulters of BSNL Bangalore telecom district. We have outstanding payments of approximately Rs 35 crore since November 2002 for wireless connections. For landlines, dues amounting to Rs 91 crore are outstanding."

Ganesh said that Bangalore will be the second city after Chennai which will be opting for outsourcing the debt recovery activity through agents. Chennai, which has done this on an experimental basis, is believed to have benefitted from taking similar measures.

As part of its measures to plug black marketing of SIM cards, the Bangalore telecom district has also decided to issue these cards in phases rather than in bulk to its distributors.

Another key feature will include the putting up a validity time for activation, beyond which the SIM card will not be functional if activated. The department is also planning to sell currency along with the SIM card to ensure that it is not easily accessible.

Ganesh said that Karnataka has 3.59 lakh active subscribers (including prepaid and postpaid), with a ready capacity for 7.2 lakh connections.

The Bangalore telecom district also catered to the high demand for prepaid and postpaid connections by making it available on demand. The department will now dispose nearly 1.5 lakh SIM cards in phases across the state.